GLASGOW City Council want to build nine new wind turbines across Glasgow to help cut the city’s annual £26million energy bill.

COUNCIL chiefs want to build nine new wind turbines across Glasgow to help cut the city’s annual £26million energy bill.

The city have already put up a huge turbine at Cathkin Braes. It is run by Scottish Hydro and towers above Castlemilk.

But the council want to erect nine turbines to help cut carbon emissions and reduce their annual bills.

Locations have yet to be decided for the generators but a “mapping exercise” will be carried out to find the best place to put them.

Council leader Gordon Matheson said the turbines would be similar to the one at Cathkin Braes.

The authority and environmental group Sustainable Glasgow will create a new company to install the turbines – to improve the environment and create jobs. It is hoped they will help Glasgow lead the way in green energy technology and reduce the city’s carbon footprint.

Sustainable Glasgow chairman Matheson said: “Glasgow City?Council are working with our?partners to make our city one of the most sustainable in Europe. As well as?setting up our own green energy company, Sustainable Glasgow area exploring numerous options for new renewable energy projects across the city.

“A mapping exercise will be carried out to identify sites which may be suitable for various projects, including the creation of wind turbines similar to the one we already have at Cathkin Braes.

“We are nurturing the creation of district heatings systems and have already introduced a network of electric car?charging points across the city.”

The local authority’s environmental plans include transforming vacant council-owned sites into solar farms with ground-level panels to generate electricity. They also want to transform derelict woodland into “urban woodland” which would start producing timber for energy after just five years.

District heating schemes – where a number of properties are heated from a centralised energy source – are already in operation in Glasgow.

Another has been incorporated into the Commonwealth Games athletes’ village site, where it will heat around 700 homes and the Emirates Arena.

Scottish Renewables policy manager Stephanie Clark said: “Innovative ideas like these show the potential of renewables in an urban environment and show Glasgow can be a leader in green energy technology.

“With district heating installed at the Commonwealth Games athletes’ village and more renewables jobs than any other city in Scotland, Glasgow is already in a position to demonstrate its environmental credentials to the world. These plans show those credentials are likely to grow in the future.”